


You Gave Me Something To Lose

by GayGremlin



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Keith is touch starved and needs attention or he will die, M/M, Near-Death Experience, Secret Relationship, and my first post, angst with happy ending, established klance, this is my first klance fic, uhhh, uwu
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-31
Updated: 2019-03-31
Packaged: 2019-12-29 17:12:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18298616
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GayGremlin/pseuds/GayGremlin
Summary: Lance and Keith have been together for quite a long time now. The only problem?  The rest of the team is completely unaware.  But a near-death experience will make the other realize just how much his partner means to him, while revealing some things in the process....





	You Gave Me Something To Lose

**Author's Note:**

> Howdy! This is my first fic on ao3 and akdbajbfndb cunstructive criticism is encouraged. It's Klance because they own my ass, and I love the bastards.
> 
> The near-death experience in here is very unrealistic because it would most definitely cause death, but we're gonna pretend that it doesn't, k? K. Also, I'm shit at writing battle scenes so please forgive me uwu.
> 
> And now, ladies, gentlemen, and dearest dudes, let's get this show on the road.
> 
> Yeehaw.

“Keith,” he whispered softly, lightly placing a hand on the shoulder of the sleeping figure beside him and shaking it gently. He got only a muffled groan in response, the other only shoving his face further into the pillow beneath him. “Keith, please,” he tried again, continuing with his soft, melodic tone. You could practically hear the soft smile that played on his lips and the glow of loving adoration in his eyes. He was met only with a louder groan.

“Mmmnn,” a muffled sound found its way through the pillow. “Lemme sleep.” The other chuckled. He was still unused to the boy beside him getting any sleep at all, let alone needing to be made to wake up.

“You know we can’t.” 

Ah yes. They knew all too well. The moment that they got out of the comfort of the bed that they shared, the moment that they were released from each other’s embrace, it would be back to Lance and Keith, friends and teammates. Buddies who were now getting along quite well compared to what they used to be, but were nothing more than that. There were no kisses, no hugs, no hand-holding, and no more physical contact than what was deemed platonically acceptable. Lance made no flirtatious comments about Keith throughout the day, which required quite the amount of self control. Neither gave each other the comfort, the words of affection, and the reassurances of love that they shared when they got a moment away from the others, or when they would sneak into the other’s room late in the night after everyone else had gone to sleep. They were friends. Only friends.

If only the other’s knew.

The others had no idea about the intimate moments the two shared. No idea about how close they had become and how much they had come to mean to each other. They had no idea that for a long while now, the two of them had been hiding their relationship from their friends and teammates. And they couldn’t know. Not just yet anyway.

Lance and Keith both knew that the moment they were to come out, or the moment they were to be found out, a large amount of unnecessary tension and drama would ensue. It was not that they believed that their friends would be unaccepting of the fact that they were dating someone of the same sex. That would not even be something that they would give a second thought to. In fact, they would be ecstatic if the situation were completely different from the one that they were in currently. 

The war.

The Galra.

Voltron.

The others would not be happy about their relationship because of how it might affect the team. What would happen in the heat of battle if emotions such as love overpowered their better judgment and cost a mission, or worse, a life? What would happen to the team dynamic? How would it affect strategy? What would happen if they were to break up? Would they still be able to work as a team? Would the team still be able to form Voltron? 

Allura would be the most displeased, of course. The mission would be put before anything else, which of course meant that Lance and Keith’s relationship was only a trivial thing that only got in the way. She would be too caught up in her current fact-driven and mission-centric mindset to be able to see how content and happy the two were with their newfound partnership. Revealing themselves would only cause problems. So they didn’t do it.

After a beat of silence, Keith lifted his head off the pillow, his eyes still droopy from sleep and his hair sticking up at odd angles. “You’re right,” he agreed, and sighed, lifting himself off of the bed and tossing the blankets off of him, yawning as he stretched. As he stood up, Lance was yet again pleased to see that Keith had finally agreed to wear pajamas to bed. Being the paranoid person that he was, he had always slept in his clothes, always ready for an attack. But Lance had insisted that he would not sleep with him while he was still wearing the dirty clothes that he had worn throughout the day, which was enough to get Keith to comply. He still slept with his knife, of course, but Lance didn’t mind. He knew that there were some things that he could never change about his boyfriend, not in a million years, and having that knife with him at all times was one of them. 

Keith turned around, noticing Lance staring at him as he took off his shirt. He smirked. “Like what you see?” he asked. Of course he had said the only thing that every guy says when they notice someone watching them take their shirt off. But Lance still blushed lightly and laughed. “Uh, duh,” he replied, his laughter causing fluctuations in his voice. “You are my boyfriend after all.” Keith blushed, looking down at the floor, but smiled softly nonetheless. 

Keith was still growing accustomed to having someone love him and to love them in return. He wasn’t used to sweet nothings being whispered in his ear, having someone to hold and be held by as he fell asleep. And even after a long while of being together, he was still in a small amount of disbelief that Lance had actually chosen him. Keith. The loner, the awkward one, the boy with the short temper, the seemingly cold paladin. And Lance had chosen him.

Their relationship had gotten off to a rocky start. And by relationship, it goes all of the way back to when they first met back at the Garrison, and when they first saw each other again when saving Shiro after his explosive and shocking return to Earth. The constant bickering was a drain on both the two of them and those around them. Their lack of cooperation with each other along with the stubborn rivalry held between the two made it difficult to get tasks done efficiently. 

Truth be told, they both hated the fights.

They were just far too wrapped up in this fabricated rivalry (mostly on Lance’s part) and their stubborn ways to be able to see it.

But at the moment, all of that bickering and irritation seemed like a distant memory, nothing more than a bump in the road on the way to what they had now. 

And to both boys (or rather, young men) could not imagine a reality other than the one that they were in right now. Waking up in the morning to the other sleeping peacefully, limbs intertwined under the covers and a feeling of safety blanketing them as they slept. This was true for Keith especially. He had hardly gotten a single night’s worth of sufficient rest until he started sharing a bed with Lance. And he knew that now that he had, he would never be able to do so without Lance ever again.

Of course there were still arguments, with the occasional full-blown fight, but they were always able to get through it. By the end of the day, they were always in bed in the other’s embrace.

Lance stood from the bed as well, stretching his arms upward paired with a wide yawn, followed by rubbing his forehead with his hand. He suddenly froze, his hand seemingly stuck to his forehead and his eyes wide with horror. And before Keith could even articulate a panicked question, Lance told him exactly what was wrong.

“I forgot to do my skin care routine last night!”

It was all Keith could do to not burst out in an uncontrollable fit of laughter on the spot.

“You’re such a fuckin’ drama queen,” he teased while trying his best to suppress his laughter.

“Shut up, Mullet!” Lance responded, with a twinge of indignance and stress accompanied by a growing laugh.

This was what Keith had been longing for his entire life. This is what Lance had been missing so desperately ever since their arrival in space and being deemed Paladins of Voltron:

Domestic bliss. 

But they knew that they only had this in the later hours of the night and the early hours of the morning. 

Only a mere fifteen minutes later, Keith was standing in Lance’s doorway, fully dressed, giving his partner a chaste kiss on the lips before walking down the short distance of hallway leading to his own room (which was often shared with Lance, so he rarely considered it strictly “his” room). He stepped lightly, not wanting to alert the others, who could very well be awake at this time. 

He didn’t want to have to hide. He wanted to hold his boyfriend’s hand while walking down hallways, he wanted to be able to show him signs of affection, no matter how small, in the presence of others. He wanted to love him. Openly. 

But he knew that he couldn’t.

So he didn’t.

***

“This is a diplomatic mission,” Shiro was saying, the team huddled around him, a serious and determined air about them. “But it could very well turn dangerous. This planet is one that is on the edge of coming under Galran rule. We can’t let that happen. But we will be bringing our suits as a precaution in the case of an attack, although we will leave them in the lions when speaking to the leaders of the planet.”

The other paladins were nodding along, a hardened look on each of their faces. Although they had gone on missions many times before, and even gotten thrown into surprise attacks resulting in battle, they always listened closely to Shiro’s pre-mission talks. He was their leader for a reason, after all. 

“We will stick together as a group during this mission,” Shiro continued, giving Keith a pointed look, making him grumble ever so slightly. “We will only carry weapons in the inner pockets of our clothes and we will not let the inhabitants know that we have them.” They all nodded.

“I will be the one to approach the leaders and begin conversation…”

And so within a few minutes, Shiro had completed his run-through of the mission plan and they were all heading to their respective lions. While the others were distracted, Lance shot Keith a wink, paired with a light smirk. Keith, of course, knew that it was reassurance rather than cockiness. Lance knew that ever since they had gotten together (which was around eleven months ago in Earth time, if he wasn’t mistaken), Keith experienced a fair amount of increased anxiety when it came to missions than he had before. He had found someone to love and to be loved by, someone who wouldn’t leave, someone that provided the things that he had never received before in his life. And he couldn’t lose that.

Before Lance, Keith could be as impulsive and reckless as he wanted. He was only risking his own safety, after all. And that wasn’t very important.

But now there was Lance.

And Lance had given him something to lose.

Keith gave Lance a soft smile in return, telling Lance that he understood him. He wanted to be able to kiss him on the cheek. To wish him luck and exchange quick and effortless “I love you”s. He really did want nothing more than that at the moment.

But he couldn’t.

So he didn’t.

***

“Lance, I need you to cover me!”

It was Pidge’s voice, practically shrieking over the coms, almost completely drowned out by the deafening sound of a laser cannon from a Galra fighter ship hurtling past her, missing the lion’s head by what seemed like mere inches. 

The mission had gone wrong. 

Horribly wrong.

This was possibly one of the worst situations they had gotten themselves into to date.

They hadn’t even made it to the planet. The inhabitants of the planet had known ahead of time about their arrival and had informed the Galra. The planet had apparently already been under Galra occupation. But that had happened only a week ago. If the paladins had arrived a mere week earlier then they would have been saved the trouble and danger of what the mission had become.

“You got it, Pidge!” Lance’s voice came through the coms, his voice also raised, stress and determination quite evident. He piloted his lion towards Pidge as fast as he could, seeing the girl’s ship surrounded by Galra ships and-

That’s when he realized what he had to do.

The main Galra ship (or, the one considered the mothership but was only an ant compared to the largest of the Galra battleships) had a weak spot that was open. A power source of sorts. (If the situation were any different, Lance would have had the nerve to chuckle at its resemblance to the first Star Wars movie.) But it would only be open for seconds longer. And Lance was going to exploit that weakness. 

There was no time to think. He had to act. If he didn’t act, they would all die. They were not equipped to fight. They weren’t prepared to fight. They were caught so off guard by the attack that they hadn’t even received a chance to get into their paladin armor. 

So he acted. He piloted himself right into the generator, causing the electric field to sporadically spark in random directions, before bursting into a ball of flame, disabling the Galra ship and causing the fighter ships to return to aid the larger. 

Lance hadn’t thought.

He had no time to.

He just did the first thing that came to his mind.

He wanted to save his friends.

His family.

His Keith.

And if he was going to die for them to live, by god would he do it over and over again.

***

“Get him to a pod!” shrieked Keith as they all sprinted through the hallways of the castle to get to the cryopods, Lance’s limp body hanging in Shiro’s arms, his head lolling from side to side with each stride taken. Keith hadn't meant to sound so panicked, but he couldn’t help it. Out of everyone on the ship, Lance was the one who was most important to him. He couldn’t lose him. Now that he knew what it was like to have someone like Lance in his life, someone who loved him, someone who he could trust and who trusted him back, who held him during the night, kissed him in the morning, and whispered sweet nothings in his ear… he knew that he could never go back. 

He needed Lance. 

He knew that the others were most definitely questioning his unprecedented reaction, but were too preoccupied with saving Lance’s life to mention it at the moment. He could take the questions later. Right now he just needed Lance alive. 

There was much shouting as Allura was filled in on what exactly happened and Coran ran around from place to place trying to prepare the cryopod. Hunk was close to tears (Lance was his best friend after all) and Pidge looked beyond terrified. Shiro’s eyes were full of concern, but he kept strong for the team. If he broke down then nothing would get done. 

By the time that Lance was finally placed in a pod and set to heal, the world around Keith had become nothing but a blur. He could hear the others talking (were they talking to him?) but he couldn’t make out a word of what they were saying, or even who was saying what. All he could do was stare at Lance, unmoving and heavily injured, but still alive.

He was alive.

Lance was alive.

Keith wasn’t going to lose him.

But you almost did, his mind ever-so-kindly reminded him.

He felt like crying. The tears were building up behind his eyes and sobs seemed to be welling up in his stomach, but he couldn’t cry. He couldn’t cry in front of the others. They couldn’t find out, especially not like this. 

“Keith!” he heard, practically directly in his ear, as his shoulder was shaken violently. “Keith, we’ve said your name like ten times!” Pidge was saying in an almost frantic tone, her hand still on his shoulder, while the others looked at him in both confusion and concern. He glanced from one worried face to another, feeling somewhat in a daze.

He almost died.

He almost died.

He almost died.

He almost died.

And before he knew it, hot tears were streaming down his face. He might not have even noticed if it hadn't been for the looks of shock and confusion coming from the other paladins. 

“K...Keith? Buddy?” Hunk started, unsure of what to do. “What’s going on?” Of course they knew that he was upset about Lance. Hell, they all were. But this was an uncharacteristically intense reaction. None of the others were reacting with this much uncontrollable emotion (as much as they did care about their fellow paladin and friend), and Keith and Lance were… well, they were Keith and Lance. Of course, they had all noticed how well they were getting along as of late, but Keith was the last person that they would suspect to react this strongly.

Keith couldn’t respond. He was preoccupied with trying to keep the sobs that were building up in his throat from coming out.

He almost died.

I almost lost him.

And the dam broke. Gut-wrenching sobs emitted from his body before he could stop them, and he collapsed to the floor. 

The team was in shock. They had never seen Keith cry before. Not even Shiro had seen him cry, and he was something of a brother to him. Allura opened her mouth to say something, but Coran placed a hand on her shoulder, silencing her. Whatever she had to say, no matter how well intentioned, would not be of any help to the distraught boy. Only Shiro could help.

Shiro bent down and tentatively put a hand on Keith’s shoulder, which was shaking uncontrollably, along with the rest of his body.

“Keith,” he said softly. His eyes were full of concern. “Please explain to us what’s going on.” 

It wasn’t a demand, and it wasn’t unkind. He was worried, as was everyone else.

Pidge looked confused and scared. If Keith was losing his shit like this, then something must really be wrong.

Hunk just looked like a deer caught in the headlights. His instincts were screaming at him to do something, anything, to make Keith feel better. Cook something for him, hug him, reassure him. But he didn’t have a clue as to what was going on. So he couldn’t do anything.

Allura was highly alarmed and confused. What was happening? Why was it happening? She just couldn’t understand. If it were anyone but Keith, it would have been much easier to wrap her head around. But this…. This was Keith.

Coran wanted to ask a million questions. The main one being: what the actual fuck is going on? But he knew that Shiro was the only one who could handle it the way that Keith needed. So he didn’t say anything.

Keith didn’t know how to respond to Shiro’s question. His sobs were dying down, but only slightly. How could he explain? How could he tell them that he almost just lost the most important person to him in the entire universe? How could he tell them that they had been in a relationship for almost a year without telling them?

They can’t know.

They can’t know.

Not like this.

Not without Lance here too.

As his sobs died down to shaky breaths and occasional hiccups, he managed to look at Shiro through watery eyes.

“I just want to be alone right now,” he managed to croak out. “I’m waiting here for him to wake up.”

Shiro’s face flashed a look of confusion, but soon returned to one of concern. He lifted his hand from Keith’s shoulder and stood up.

“Alright,” he said, in a somewhat resigned but still sympathetic tone. “But we’ll be checking on you.”

“But-” Pidge started, still in desperate need of answers, but Hunk shushed her softly. They’d get their answers later, but right now Keith needed space. 

As the others left the room, most very hesitantly, Coran stopped in front of Keith. 

“The pod should take some time within the next few days to heal him. You should be seeing him soon.”

And with that and a soft, sympathetic smile, Coran followed the others out of the room, leaving Keith alone with only his thoughts and unconscious partner to keep him company.

***

It took Lance two and a half days to heal. 

Two and a half days of Keith curled up in the blanket that Pidge had brought him, though not managing to get any sleep. 

Two and a half days of eating only a few bites of the food that Hunk brought him for each meal.

Two and a half days of Shiro coming in a few times a day to ask how he’s holding up.

Two and a half days of contemplating Lance’s sacrifice.

Because at this point, Lance dying was not a concern. They all knew that he was going to live. The pod was healing him and he would come out healthy and very much alive.

No, it was the fact that he had been so careless, so fucking stupid, as to die for the sake of the team. Yes, Keith knew that Lance thought that he was doing what was best, and yes, he knew that they probably all owed their lives to Lance’s utter stupidity, but that wasn’t the point.

Lance was so willing to throw his life away. Lance was going to leave Keith alone. Lance was going to take himself away from the team, his friends, his family, the people who cared for him the most. And Keith couldn’t handle that.

He wasn’t used to having someone to lose. He wasn’t used to the feeling of needing someone so much that it physically hurts. He wasn’t used to loving someone so much that them coming so close to death would have this kind of effect on him. 

So when Lance finally stumbled out of the pod and into Keith’s arms while everyone else rushed into the room, it was all Keith could do to stop himself from burying his head in his boyfriend’s neck and bawl his eyes out, telling him just how incomprehensibly stupid he was.

“Keith?” Lance asked in a groggy voice, obviously still a little disoriented. His arms found their way around Keith’s body and he loosely held onto him.

“Yes,” Keith replied, his voice cracking as he held onto Lance as if his life depended on it. 

“Holy shit,” Lance said, his tone far too neutral for Keith’s comfort, more clearly this time. “I’m still alive?”

“Yes,” Keith responded, somewhere between a laugh and a sob. “Yes you are, you careless, idiotic, suicidal bastard.”

Lance smiled and chuckled softly, but tears were forming in his eyes.

“I’m sorry,” was all he could say before Keith’s lips crashed into his. He made a small squeak in surprise, but soon kissed back in equal fervor. 

There was a collection of loud gasps from behind them, and a handful of “oh my god”s, but in this moment they couldn’t bring themselves to care. They both thought that they would never get this again, and yet here they were.

The two broke apart and their foreheads rested against each other, both of their eyes closed.

“You’re not allowed to do that shit again,” Keith said firmly.

Lance chuckled.

“Aye aye, captain.”

“Um, hey, so uh, what?!” they heard Pidge cry from behind them. They turned to see the whole team gaping at them, Shiro with his hand covering his mouth (obviously an attempt to conceal a surprised grin), Hunk with his mouth hanging open (Lance was resisting the urge to tell him to close it before he caught a fly), Allura and Coran with wide eyes, and Pidge looking like the personification of a keysmash.

Keith’s cheeks turned a light shade of pink and Lance smiled shyly. 

“Surprise,” Lance said in an unsure voice, punctuated with an awkward laugh. 

“How long has this been going on?” Shiro asked, with a knowing look on his face (was there a sense of pride in there?).

“Uh,” Lance started, looking increasingly uncomfortable.

“Almost a year,” Keith replied, his tone more confident than he thought it would be. 

But confidence is key, i suppose, he thought to himself. He didn’t want to be uncomfortable talking about his relationship with Lance. It made him happy. Hopefully the others would see that and be happy for them as well.

“ALMOST A YEAR?!” the others cried in unison. 

“And you never told us?!” Allura cried shrilly, an almost accusing edge to her voice.

“How could I have not noticed?! I’m way too nosey to not have known!” Pidge yelled in disbelief.

“And you didn’t tell me?! I’m your best friend, Lance!” Hunk shouted, affronted.

Shiro was just laughing his ass off, along with Coran.

Keith and Lance shared a look and broke into laughter as well. As much as the others seemed indignant, they could tell that they were only irritated because they weren’t in the know (not to mention that they were being quite overdramatic at the moment).

Honestly, although it was the complete opposite of what they were expecting, this was probably the best reaction that they could have hoped for.

*** 

Soon enough, things calmed down. The others gave the couple their congratulations and best wishes, and there was constant joking about it over the dinner table. Shiro had to use all of his self control to not give Lance the standard “treat him well, do not hurt him or else, blah blah blah” older brother talk, and Hunk had to stop himself from prying too far into the details of their relationship (but what could he say? As the best friend of one of the two, he was obligated to get all of the nitty-gritty details). 

And before they knew it, it was time for them to call it a night. As they all stood up and were about to head their separate ways, Allura spoke up.

“So I would assume that you two are officially sharing a room now?” she asked. Of course, they all knew it was safe to assume that the two had been doing it for far longer than they were aware of, but she thought it to be prudent to ask anyway.

They both nodded without any hesitation. 

“Of course!” Lance chirped happily, and Keith couldn’t help but let a wide smile spread across his face. This was really happening. They no longer had to hide.

“Well, you better assign them a room that’s nowhere near mine,” Pidge called as she headed to her own designated room, snickering, a smirk practically audible in her voice. “I don’t want to have to hear Lance screaming all night.”

“PIDGE!” Lance cried, high-pitched and indignant. Pidge’s cackle could be heard as she retreated down the hallway.

“Well, goodnight you guys!” Hunk said cheerfully, standing up from the table and heading towards his own room, waving at them as he went. Allura and Coran did the same as they left for their quarters, and the couple was left alone with Shiro, who had just stood from the table and had placed a hand on Lance’s shoulder. 

“I’m happy for you guys,” he told them with a warm smile.

Lance returned the smile gratefully. 

“Thank you,” he told Shiro sincerely.

Keith nodded at his brother figure with a wide smile on his face, his hand intertwined with Lance’s. 

And as Shiro left the two to head to his room with a final call of “goodnight!” he knew that they were good for each other.

He knew that they loved each other.

He knew that they would be there for each other.

Because he had never seen Keith this happy in his life.

“So,” Lance started warmly, placing an arm around his boyfriend’s waist and resting his head on his shoulder. “We did it.”

“Yeah,” Keith said, a note of contentment in his voice. “We did it.”

They were each other’s light in the darkness of this difficult, dangerous, and seemingly hopeless time.

And who doesn’t deserve a little light to get them through the night?

**Author's Note:**

> I hope that you enjoyed this bullshit! 
> 
> I spent way too long on it!!
> 
> All while half asleep!!!
> 
> Please end my suffering!!!!
> 
> Ok, yeah, thanks for reading, and adios amigos :'D


End file.
